On Thursday evening, 8th of April our Pilgrimage group was privileged to meet with the Superior General of the Marist Brothers, Br Emili Turu fms and the Vicar General, Br Joe McKee fms.
I was expecting to hear Br Emili speak about his role and that of the Marist Brothers in our world today. Instead, Br Emili, in typical Marist fashion, was more interested in our role as Marist Educators as well as our experiences on this Pilgrimage. He was also interested in our comments regarding the General Chapter. This approach again highlighted for me the commitment of the Marist Brothers to the continued strengthening of Marist/lay partnership. Most poignantly, when Br Emili was asked later in our meeting about what he believed the role of lay Marist to be he said the following…
“Being a Lay Marist is the movement of the spirit
it is not up to us to control this”.
Br Emili is clearly telling us that we need to develop our role as lay Marists guided by the Holy Spirit. I would add that we have the living example of the Marist Brothers to guide and support us as we discern our role in the Marist world.
Scripturally this reminds me of John ch. 14 4-6:
Thomas Said to Him, “Lord we do not know where you are going; so how can we know the way to get there?”Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one goes to the father except through me”.
As lay Marists, we may not be sure of the way forward but with Jesus, Mary, the Holy Spirit and the Marists as our guides we have a pretty good chance of getting to where we need to go.
Some Quotes from Br Emili:
“You are a part of the Marist Institute – this is your house also” (referring to the General House)
“We as Marists are the Marian Face of the Church”
“The Marists are a group of men inspired by a woman”
“There are many forms of poverty among young people – poverty of family life;
poverty of spirit…”
Mark Murphy